They say history has a habit of repeating itself.
We beat an in-form Chelsea back in 2018 when Nuno was enduring his first bad run of results, and tonight’s win is arguably even more priceless.
Though our defeat against Villa was far from justified, it did raise some inevitable questions about formations, recruitment and the overall direction of our club.
And while one win certainly doesn’t consign all of those questions to the rubbish bin, it does help to allay some of our fears.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who feared the worst when the visitors took the lead, so credit to the lads for having the character to turn the game around.
Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto will rightfully take the plaudits for their match-winning contributions, but this was the sort of team performance that has come to typify Wolves at their best under Nuno.
Our defending was much improved, though Chelsea’s opener was entirely preventable.
And while teams are sure to continue targeting Nelson Semedo, we look better equipped to cope with three centre halves in the team.
There were some positives in midfield too, thanks in no small part to a much-improved performance from Neves.
Though he remains a million miles away from the maestro we have spent the last three seasons purring over, this was one of his more inventive performances of the season.
And young Owen Otasowie did his first-team prospects the world of good with a mature and energetic performance in the second-half.
Shout out to Vitinha too for threading Neto through for that glorious, heart-stopping winner.
There’s still questions to be answered up top, where neither Silva or Traore look like being the immediate answer to our shortage of goals.
But if our Portuguese wing wizards can continue to come up with the goods, then perhaps the wait until the January window won’t be a frustrating one.
Either way, it’s certainly nice to have that winning feeling back after a few dispiriting results and to see us bloody the noses of one of the ‘big six’ once again.
Well we have just played 3 ‘big six ‘ teams in the last 4 games. The other being a tetchy local derby v Villa. So I am delighted we managed to pick 6 points from those. Magnificent win tonight and I think it will have lifted the spirits amongst a fractured fan base. It is fair to say we do look more like ourselves with 3 at the back. How will Nuno go from now on ? Next up Burnley away. Another 3 points and we are suddenly right up there again. With further ‘big six’ fixtures to follow we can hopefully grab a result up there.
A very sober analysis of the situation.
Another welcome chocking portion of humble pie for me.
For the most part we look shaky at best but if we continue to pick up points like these it gives Nuno time to find his “solutions “
Btw. Otowasie looks the real deal!
*choking!
What a game doubt nuno at your peril only negative Nelson can’t defend give Hoover a run Silvia still a boy subs looked great what a start for the holidays merry Xmas everyone wolves aie we where’s the Bailey’s ?
Look who Nelson was defending against. How much did they cost?
I think you’ll find that the Baileys is (or should that be ‘are’) in our drinks cabinet.
The PMDG’ers fave tipple!
Don’t use me much, do you?
SAISS excellent. Neves quality passing. Marcal best game. Neto and Podence outstanding, passionately committed to winning.
Traore can go elsewhere.
On an island here. I think Semedo brings a lot to the team – more offensively….but, still an asset.
Fabio played better against Villa. But, he’s an 18 year old kid with Thiago Silva marking him.
I think he’s going to be a star
Brilliant, rousing win spearheaded by Dan and Pedro who took the fight to Chelsea with non stop aggressive running. Couple of observations- Willy tried to clear with his left foot for their goal, we really need a right sided CB. Injuries to Willy and Leander will leave our bench threadbare. Nelson did ok against a world class operator in Pulisic. Fabio linked well and is clearly talented but atm he looks like and plays like a choirboy. If he wants to make it he must develop the same ‘in your face attitude’ and will to win personified by our two goal scorers tonight. Very proud of this performance, well done boys. Still think it was a penalty, he was surely nudged, what do we need to do to get a penalty?
Thing is Woodend, Wily is right footed. He was basically just asleep, thinking he had more time than was actually the case. As for the penalty, I can’t be having it. There can’t be anyone amongst us who wasn’t sure that the referee would overturn his decision on reviewing the incident.
I stand corrected, thank you. Seeing Willy’s attempt to clear led me to believe he is left footed, plus he played many of his initial games at Wolves at LCB?
It was a dive I reckon.
As I saw it Boly was too laid back, as often the case, and Giroud showed his class to beat him to it.
As for the choirboy, he’s looking better every match, and goals will come. He looked tough enough when defending in our box against corners.
His left foot caught the lad’s right thigh as he passed him, which no-one seemed to realise as they concentrated on the ankle; just brushed it so I thought a penalty might be harsh, but you see them given to the `big` teams more often.
Great team performance. Thought Semedo actually had a decent game bar a couple of moments. The issue now is every mistake is highlighted but in attacking the way Nuno wants him to and little support from those ahead of him, he often faces a difficult task. We looked so much more comfortable with the tried and tested formation. The dilemma for Nuno is how we become more than a counter attacking team and moving away from it becomes even harder when it achieves results like this. Word for Otasowie too who impressed
Wonderfull performance. Not quite the LIQUID football of old, but certainly more fluid!
Ostowasie looks really good, and will be interesting to see when he gets another game! Silva looks physically lightweight, but at least he did get the ball in the net, after totally misjudging his run and was clearly offside.
Tarore does not belong in the center and is underperforming. Looks very static and uninterested at times.
Was not too disappointed when the penalty shout for Neto was overturned, because in my opinion, Coady’s hand ball was definitely a penalty. Liverpool got a similar one last weekend!
Back to overly cautious in the first half, but with some of the top six teams, that may very well be the right strategy.
All in all, a great performance by the boys in Gold and Black!
Time to give up the game completely if that Coady incident was a penalty. Let’s get back to deliberate hand ball only. That rule served us pretty well for around a century!
Nuno evaluated the opposition and reverted to 3 at the back.
1-0 down and Nuno evaluated the situation and put on Ottasowie and Vitinha. Both goals came from assists by both subs.
In Nuno I trust.
I think the analysis was that Dendoncker was injured.
Welcome to the blog Evets Selib, always room for some extra punters now one of our Northern softies did a runner because we lost to Veela.
Nice to have your comment, lovely Avatar, I love those Wolf eyes.
I made it easy for you to be honest. I was going to remove the avatar but just changed it. That’s what happens when you are a bit backward!
Headed up the Duke to watch the match with my fellow Ivybridge Wolves, hungry both for three points and a substantial plate of liver ‘n onions. And yes, I left two hours later, well satisfied on both fronts.
An altogether terrific performance with Pedro and Danny Boy terrorising their defence with flicks, tricks and some superb, direct running with the ball. Fabio gradually seems to be finding his feet and is obviously imbued with immense talent though is also far to easy to knock off the ball by uncompromising Premier League defenders. Vitinha impressed again in his cameo and Otasowie showed he could well grow into an accomplished performer at this level. Marcal too is a class act.
The return to three centre halves served us well and the whole defence seemed, in general, much more assured given the standard of the opposition. Their goal, and when it came, was a real sickener but it only gave our boys renewed vigour and determination and I felt that by the time Pedro netted his brilliant late winner, we were the only team that was going to take the three points.
Fantastic stuff Wolves. Thank you Nuno and the lads for a memorable night. Fantastic plate of liver too. Thank you Dave at the Duke for a memorable, and very substantial, meal.
Yum Yum.
Don’t rub the pub in too deep will you
At least my memory is ok – I remember what they are!
Sorry Prawny. Most insensitive of me. I can only apologise.
Yes – I haven’t set foot in a pub since 2nd November and probably won’t until about March – good job my garage is stocked full off lager then !
That’s right Cheesey, lay a guilt trip on me. I only went to the pub. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
I remember writing on this blog when we played Swindon away a few seasons ago, I went down to the front of the stand and looked at the lads training, I thought Doherty was a fat, lazy, couldn’t care less type player and wrote to that effect when I got home
Then when a certain Dr Nuno took the reins, he looked at his squad and thought ” Fat twat Doherty”, he sent him home on a programmed diet (fact, confirmed by his mate who is a die hard Wolves fan home and away) and overnight he turned up looking a lean machine and for three seasons looked great.
Two seasons ago into Molineux came a spotty faced, lightweight, bag of bones from Portugal, along with Master Vinagre he started strutting his stuff to the Molineux faithful. My Granson and I thought, wow what a little fire cracker. Then last season he came out to play very seriously, over the summer 2018 he miraculously Morphed into a footballer with proper well hard muscles and shoulders, enter stage left the new Pedro Neto.
When I look at little choirboy Silva, I have the same feeling, lightweight, funny haircut, blow over in the wind legs and very sheepish. I have no doubt, Dr Nuno will sort his physique out, get him chomping at the bit and produce a little star, every game he plays you can see the Nuno trait coming into his play.
So titter ye not, fret no more, with time and Nuno there’s a player in there somewhere, how ever long it takes is in the lap of the Dogs. But, let’s not start pointing fingers or getting dispirited, this was a confident display albeit a timid affair at times but they all went about their business in a work like fashion. Had Chelski won they would have returned to the top. We beat them, fairly and squarely, they didn’t and Frank reeled off fatigue as the answer/excuse. Been there, done that, got a tee shirt Frankie boy. Welcome to our World.
I want to show you the point that changed our game, for the second game in succession some arsehole of a cheating bath plug had Podence by the throat, for the second game running, Podence got the booking for being man handled, call me old fashioned if you like, but this smacks of favouritism.
Also, if you get a chance to watch the game again take a look at two incidents where Mount was taking a free kick, the ref was having a jolly old chinwag and joke with him and they both went off laughing and giggling. Not very unbiased to my eyes.
Anyway, bloody good result, hanging in there grinding it out without Jimmy as we did when Boly broke his leg. So all in all, I’m clapping happy.
I actually thought Frank’s interview was a pretty honest assessment.
You could see he was holding back from roasting his players but gave credit where it was due.
Decent chap.
I think it was Chillwell he was laughing and joking with but maybe it was both of them. Don’t be too critical though Stu, because he awarded the corner that lead to our equaliser when the general consensus was that it was a goal kick, having come off big Wily last.
Agree about Podence, he was just keen to get on with the game although he was hardly grabbed by the throat; a slight brush would probably be more apt.
Did Chillwell or someone put their hand around Podence’s neck tonight? Isn’t that a red card?
Only if your’e a top six team Tim.
Xhaka got one (for Arsenal v Burnley) for exactly the same offence.
That was a touch more aggressive though. Too many footballers act as if shot by a sniper and, to his credit, our Daniel didn’t.
Don’t know what you mean!
Don’t know where to start other than be totally happy that my heart before head prediction this morning on here proved spot on correct..
I thought we were pretty poor for the first hour apart from Podence, Silva and Neto performing heroics with very little service. And then in true wolfpack fashion somebody switched the lights on.
I think Podence has finally convinced me and Neto is fast becoming the real deal – don’t you dare sell him. Silva has some very good touches and his hold up play can be excellent, but he needs to beef up, which will come. Neves much more himself and Otasowe looked strong and assured. Semedo??? A very good footballer but I’m convinced his future lies in midfield.
My only gripe is Traore; he clearly doesn’t want to be here as his reluctance / refusal to sign his contract indicates, his sulky demeanour indicates and his poor form indicates . Nuno knows it and showed his feelings by turning his back as he sat on the touchline for 5 minutes rubbing his ankle. Shame we didn’t cash in 12 months ago when he was supposed to be worth mega bucks.
And why oh why did we only start playing after an hour – again.
All in all though a great evening but tbh a bit of a surprise. We just about shaded it and were the better team.
Very proud of the boys tonight, our character was back.
Ps. had the penalty been at the other end you can bet it would have stood (wrongly). Neto’s toe was just, just touched.
I’m getting sick to death of this “Traore doesn’t want to be here” talk. There’s no evidence whatsoever.
If you watch his interaction with team mates the opposite would appear to be true.
you’re right, what he’s fed up with is being double marked and taken out when he tries a run; now that the opposition know what he can do he’s not such an Exocet weapon. Still great ability though, and need persevering with, bringing him into play whenever we can.
True- I thought Adama’s introduction was the catalyst which led to us taking control. The Chelsea boys were well aware of his ability to stretch the game, the defence was tiring and space was being made by his presence. Extremely skilful, we would be mad to sell him with no other options available imho.
‘in true wolfpack fashion somebody switched the lights on.’
Never forget – ‘Out of darkness, cometh light’.
I used to have a love/hate relationship with Stephen Ward.
I used to love to hate him!
I am starting to develop the same warm and fuzzy feelings towards Adama Traore.
If he is supposedly putting himself in the shop window to get a transfer, then the store is closed and shuttered for the duration, and he is doing himself no favours.
Never have I seen a more disinterested, couldn’t give a shit performance, and he was on for only 30 minutes.
Woe is me when he lost the ball, going down his usual blind alley, no idea when to look up and pass, or take a man on and actually beat him, in fact pretty damn clueless.
Beginning to think he is more of an athletic sprinter rather than a footballer, kind of like Steve Kindon, but not as good.
That we managed to beat a so called top six side with ten men for a third of the game is even more fantastic.
Nuno, please get rid asap.
Having had that gripe, I thought tonight’s performance was season defining.
I tried to watch as a neutral would, and I thought the first half was extremely entertaining, and the fact that Chelsea didn’t have a shot on target speaks volumes for our lads.
If you looked closely, you could see Nuno’s number 10 boots sticking out of a few arses, and it worked.
Ruben had his best game of the season, could it be that him and Moutinho cannot play together, kinda like Lampard and Gerrard for England?
Who knows, but he was immense, bossing midfield.
My jury is still out on Marcal and Semedo, although the latter was much better than Saturday, but why oh why didn’t he shoot when only the keeper to beat in the second half?
And, var proved once and for all it is a waste of time, money, effort and patience.
A penalty given, reviewed by var, and given back to the ref for screen review.
What is the point of it then, if it cannot make up it’s mind?
I have to admit I don’t think it was a penalty, but you can be sure if it was against us, it would have been given.
The “top six” is now firmly established as an entity, and cannot be tampered with, or penalized, lest all the gazillions of marketing dollars dries up.
Woe betide any upstart team trying to finish in the top six.
Well, we got news for them.
Leicester are up there.
Southampton are up there, both on merit,
Everton are knocking on the door, and we are quietly sneaking in as well, so bollocks to the powers that be, life as you know it and the status quo is changing, so get out and get real jobs to earn your money, and stop milking football.
Fabulous result, perhaps all the doom mongers and naysayers and merchants of our demise will crawl back into their cesspools, lick their wounded prides, and stay there until the next time we have an off par game.
And I will join them coz I was pissed off with everyone else at the weekend!!
Shit eating grin firmly in place tonight.
We may sometimes differ but on Ward and Traore we totally agree. Traore see above and previous.
Ward the most Machiavellian bastard ever to put on a Wolves Shirt (and one of the least talented). Whatever anyone thinks about Mad Mick’s time at Molineux he was comprehensively stabled in the back by the Henry / Ward cabal after he signed Roger Johnson and the idiot O’Hara.
As for Kindon, have a heart he may not have been much good but unlike Traore at least he always gave it his all.
Great result tonight.
I am confident a man from Norwich area who runs a pub may be upset about your Traore comments.
Interesting comment about VAR. One of the most infuriating things about it is the ability to pick and choose what they want to review. Example. Traore at Arsenal gets booked for a dive when it is a clear penalty. Enter VAR to put that right……..errrrrr no. Maybe not. When it is something that may go for the big six it is miraculous in its ability to make a forensic review and give the Ref the chance to rule it out. Just like at Liverpool last week. So they may get the decisions right sometimes but it is still down to some unaccountable bloke in Stockley Park as to what gets reviewed and when.
STOP PRESS news here in US. Liverpool have just offered 80 million for Pedro Netto, with Jota thrown in for nothing as a make weight.
Wolves immediately turned the offer down as being derisory and insulting
Great summary Ben. Podence and Neto both superb. Silva just needs physicality and time, he is only 18- don’t expect anything from him for possibly 2 seasons. I know that begs the question of why spend 35m on him now but the price tag is not his fault. If he does mature as those who made the decision hope 35m will be cheap. Otasowie looks very promising. Semedo had a better game but I’m still not convinced and it is no coincidence that Chelsea targeted his wing for most of the night but improvement is encouraging. Traore did look disinterested to me too but I wonder how much of that was due to the discomfort he was clearly feeling from the early knock he suffered? Well done to Nuno on being brave enough to flex his tactics. If we can genuinely switch between back 3 and back 4 between games and within games it can only be to our advantage
I had very low expectations for this one given the maulings Chelsea doled out to us last season. Plus our very stuttering form of late, but could this be the point at which we get going again?
Clearly a back 5 suits us better than a 4, Samedo’s weakness on the right is diluted with Boly helping him out. He played better but Hoever can’t be doing it in training not to get a go to impress.
I’d disagree on the Traore negativity to be frank! Both our goals came after he replaced Silva, he may not have set the stands alight but it’s what his presence and threat do to other teams. He definitely unnerved Chelsea, they had to put players on him because if he gets one on one with a defender it’s good night Vienna.
I think his demeanour is at times laid back but when he gets it anything can happen. A great substitution by Nuno because Chelsea would feel they’ve got the ability to run this game down. Enter stage right Traore and it’s different and asks questions, unsettling, no one would like facing Traore I’m sure.
In the end he didn’t have a hand directly in the goals but he is a daunting prospect for the opposition.
Otasowie looks very good, one particular moment perhaps summed him up when he swatted Mount away drawing a foul from the England man. His jump for the Podence goal was also a big plus for this guy. Where did we get him from?
There’s also a good player Cerenbau from Canada in the U23’s. From highlights he looks top drawer, an eye for goal. Are we suddenly going all North American? With an away strip of stars & stripes?
Anyway the faith restored the mood lifted several notches after the horror show v Liverpool and the Derby defeat. Podence & Neto as everyone has said are now our new stars, the main men. Up the Wolves.
Agree fully about Traore. The fact is that all opposition managers know what he can do and can’t afford to let him have a one on one. So, even if he’s not producing himself, the fact that he is on the pitch automatically gives more space for others on the pitch. Of course, some of those others need to have the ability to exploit the extra space. This is particularly the case in the closing 15 minutes or so when opposing defenders become physically and mentally tired. Enter Messrs Podence
and Neto.
It’ll be funny if we have more soccer players from Canada and the US than we have from England on the field.
Fantastic night just as the same outcome two years ago when we turned a goal down to win 2-1 .So sad we could not all be there .Nuno once again said as much post match .
Fabio is still very lightweight but he will build up his strength and as others have said I think Nuno will create a real player .I too would sell Traore .Just does not seem that interested .
The one player I have no faith in is Semedo .He is already experienced but is a poor defender and has already been caught out this season far too often and sometimes critically as with letting Walcott score and the Villa penalty .I would put Hoever in and see how he gets on .Maybe play Jonny there when he gets back .
Can you imagine the furore if Hoever gets “put in” and gets a mauling? Our unforgiving fans might label him for the rest of his Wolves career.
The players that train best are the ones that should play and we’re not in a position to judge that.
As for Traore, listen To the professionals. Paul Scholes said at half time he would have an impact on the game and the impact yesterday was it takes a minimum of two and often three players to keep him quiet which allows other team mates to take the glory.
.Semedo is a liability and fans are already critical of him and that needs fixing .Hoever is an option but of course Nuno knows best .
Time will tell if Traore is worth keeping .I would be happy to sell him but accept views differ .
I think the problem everyone is talking about regarding Semodo is the fault of the times in my opinion. He has played in 2 different systems and we are still not settled, Also, look at the talent for the last 3 games that have been targeting him out as our weakness…. Mane, Grealish and Polistic/verner last night.
I am pretty confident when the system sets in he will be a player, an upgrade of Doherty (now warming the bench at Tottenham) – You can see his feet and speed he is just going to have to adapt – we need to give Nuno a season with him and then see how he is, for me his decision making is what lets him down.
But we looked more confident and like a pack last night with the back 3, and still managed 15 attempts on goal.
As Mr Punch used to say, while the six year old me sat licking my vanilla ice cream cornet on the beach at Swanage, watching him knock seven bells out of Judy, :-
“That’s the way to do it!”.
For Mr Punch, read Mr Podence, Mr Neto, Mr Otasowie, Mr Neves, et al, while Chelsea played the part of Judy more than adequately.
What a fantastic early Christmas present!
Great to see our magician Ruben taking charge in midfield and spraying the ball about like he used to do on a regular basis.
Fabulous to see Podence and Neto making the much vaunted Chelski defence look like a bunch of pantomime dames.
Interesting to see little Dan get penalised for the second game in a row, and booked, for being half throttled.
And good to see that the young Prince Silva seems to be showing some classy touches as he finds his feet in such vaunted company. When he bulks up and starts wearing long trousers he’ll be fine I reckon.
And was Pedro just clipped from behind as he went into the penalty area? Still not sure.
“Oh no he wasn’t! Oh yes he was!”.
It’s only one game I know, and I, like most fans, tend to get carried away on a fairy coach that could well turn straight back into a pumpkin.
But.
Nuno has gone to market, bought some seeds and planted them.
Whether they come to nothing or grow into a giant beanstalk, we don’t know.
But last night I thought I saw a couple of green shoots emerging from the Molineux turf.
oooh very festive !!!!
OH YES IT WAS !!!!
He is more than 6 feet away but he’s behing you!!
Both topical and festive.
Great night, with all our young bloods showing composure and skill, to be thrown against Chelski and hold thir own, brilliant. May not have been a clear cut kick at Pedro, re the pen, but intent and at least 4 blue shirts hassling him down, agree with Clive, if it had been against us, it would of stood.
At times sublime, at times lacking in pace, but the WIP just took a major leap forward. Just a Shame that Chelski were tired and couldn’t play very well!!!
We are starting to gel boys and girls.
Interesting comments…
i’m in allens camp on Traore its his general laid back demeanour that makes him seem disinterested i think it’s all part of the con so that when an opening does occur he explodes and leaves them all on the floor and him coming on definitely changed the game chelsea crapped themselves at the back when he went into the middle.
The guy offers so many different variations on the wing or down the centre.
Defenders know he will skin them given the chance and this opens the door for others when they double up .. enter neto and podence the two trickiest twisty turny little buggers you don’t want running at you when your six foot two.
I used to hate it when we played teams with little quick centre forwards because you knew they would score… peschisolido , mcginlay ( the tosser) players like that.
Well we’ve got two now and i love it.
Lamps strange decision to swap pulisic over to their right and stop targeting semedo was a game changer as that bloke is the dogs and he was running the game up until then not to say semedo had a bad night because he didn’t but that move certainly allowed him to catch his breath.
The opposition at the moment see our right as the way through and that’s where their goal did come from but it did get better and yes we do need a right footed centre half but they never really troubled us much after we dropped that goolie.
Jobs for the rest of the week ………
Defending Set pieces needs a lot of work.
Neves to re grow his mojo …a lot more
make your mind is it four or three at burnley ?
Which is going to be a hard slog as it seems burnley are doing their usual start playing halfway through the season trick.
But thats a week away and i went to bed a very happy bunny last night and guess what??????
We didn’t win it with a jacksie undeserved last minute penalty !!!
I think the problem is the price tag put on him after 1 season.
We can see his speed, strength, technical feet etc, but we valued him and now are expecting him to be our best player week in week out, where the who system is different, he has no target man, he runs past the defenders and no one will show for him, he draws fouls because no one moves and he holds the ball for too long.
I agree that he is one of our better players but he is only better because of his strength and speed – I believe that when Nuno pulls together the system he wants with the right personal that all the players that seem to be struggling will be the stars of the show (because thats what happens with talent and potential, expectations vs reality over experience vs age)
He’s got skill as well. Rather a lot as it happens. Just watch him closely in tight spaces. His biggest hindrance is possibly a small ‘footballing brain’. Compare that with Rooney, as thick as pig muck but he had a brilliant footballing brain. That’s what’s needed to reach the very top.
Well what a lovely dream that was last night.
But,
Back to reality, I woke up this morning to find out that in fact, we hadn’t beaten Chelski after all. I’m gutted, disheartened, when is this lean spell ever going to end. Oh woe is fu*#)#@ me.
I read the papers and no mention that Wolves did actually play well, they did organise a fight back, we did have the ball in the net 3 times and to quote Frankie boy, “Dive, I’m not too sure” sour grapes Frankie.
Media Darlings they are, good last night, they were not, Pulisic the best thing since sliced bread at the moment was kept quiet by a bloke that gets slated by his own fans and can do no right, whilst the fact that Wily Boly gifted them a goal with his half hearted non attempt at a clearance gets barely a raised eyebrow. According to the press, Kavertz was having an off day, and the poor little Cherubs from Chelski are fatigued.
What a Crock of Shite, a load of tosh, we were never struggling one bit last night, we were matching them stride for stride and certainly took the game to them and we eventually found the grit I know Iv’e been asking for.
Well done all Wolves players, even Boly, no player can stop every attempt, that’s a fact of life. I want to give credit where it’s due.
Disappointed? Yes definitely, I’m disappointed with Chelski, for their lack of respect, their no show, their pathetic excuses and lack of grit.
Wolves, you did all we on this blog have been asking for and more last night.
But, it was just a dream, I’m still dreaming that again we sit equal 6th in the English PL and have recently beaten 2 of the top six. Wake up kid, give your head a wobble, we’re just not good enough.
All absolutely true Stu. The lack of credit to, or even mention of, the terrific performance from our heroes in the national media is little short of a disgrace.
If you look back to March, pre lockdown, we had been playing two, sometimes three games a week for eight months with a much smaller squad. I ask you, did Nuno ever, just once, use fatigue as an excuse for a poor showing. Hell, we didn’t have many poor showings to be honest. Frankly (no pun intended), it a pathetic, mealy mouthed, lily livered attitude and he should come out in a proper manner and give our team the credit they so richly deserve. We were better than them. Period. Just suck it up, Frankie boy.
Brilliant Wolfstrocker and l bet Lumpwood doesn’t eat liver and onions.
Well said Stu. There seems to be a new commandment – Thou shalt not criticise the traditional ‘top six’ sides because they are great teams and if they should happen to lose there will always be an excuse ….. sorry, a good reason why it wasn’t their fault.
I just hope that it won’t be long before some of the media hacks start to realise that if you keep on patting a Wolf patronisingly on the head, you will evenually get your hand bitten off.
A crock indeed.
COYW
And what’s this with filling the studio with biased football pundits. Joe Cole last night for example. And why does Carragher always get to comment on Liverpool games and Neville on Man Utd???? Impartiality please.
VAR! A lot of comments about Neto’s penalty shout, but none on Coady’s hand ball! Surprised it was not given as to me it was clear cut. We dodged a bullet there!
Then Podence gets throttled and not even a yellow card much less a red one!
It is the inconsistency of CAR that concerns me.
It’s the inconsistency in the spelling of DAR that concerns me.
Thats PAR for the course.
Don’t you think that’s taking it too FAR.
Coady’s handball was never a penalty! He couldn’t get his hand away. If they give penalties for that type of contact we will just be watching penalty competitions!
VAR applied common sense that is what fans players and managers desperately want.
Not me Allen. I want YAR scrapped completely.
I can definitely sympathise with that view. I also wanted it gone but just know the authorities won’t get shot. It seems there’s still as many errors with VAR as with just the ref & linos! But of course they now want to check everything. There was talk of the corner that led to Podence’s goal not being a corner! Rue the day they start checking that far back! Once they have the means to check they will and distort the ends.
We’re Smokin.
There’s a rumour on the streets that the guy in the bobble hat and face mask hugging Pedro after his winner was none other than a certain Mexican sensation
a warming thought if the tale is true
WOLVES AY WE
I did wonder how that ‘fan’ managed to get in! Surely not?
It was clearly not.
On a more serious note.
Make sure, when putting out the sherry and mince pies for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve, to leave a tub of ‘Santa-iser’ handy.
Great to get the points although clearly we were allowed to win as Chelsea were “tired”! It makes you sick! No credit given at all. How many games did we play last season & we didn’t moan once about tiredness!
With regard to the “fan” being hugged by Neto, Wolves have put a clip of it on Twitter, the eyes do look like Raul. Great to see.
As we said after Saturday, ‘small margins’. Had Giroud or Zouma’s headers gone in we could have been 2 down at the break. But we got the run of the ball and emerged all square.
Nothing more needs to be said re Neves, Podence, Neto’s performances last night but a word re Saiss who I thought was magnificent. Not just his body-on- the-line defending but his passing out of a pressurised back line was, for the most part, immaculate.
I’m looking forward to Semedo having a full pre-season with Nuno because once he learns some defensive positioning we are going to have a very good player on our hands.
Felt for Silva when he was called offside. True, he should have held his run but having said that he was clearly indicating to Neto that he wanted the pass played early and at least he had the composure to finish calmly.
Overall, I’m feeling a lot more positive now about our upcoming fixtures against Spurs and Manure.
If Carlsberg made comebacks…
What a result. As I said in the pre-match review yesterday, I woke up and put a few quid at 19/2 on Wolves to win and both teams to score. I contradicted my own Prediction League forecast of 1-1 which I should have updated. This was a completely different performance than the ones against Liverpool and Villa. In those matches I didn’t see any belief that we could win.
I was encouraged by our first half performance as for all the Chelsea possession we held steady with Patricio not troubled. Then we go and concede a soft goal after the break but this just inspired us. What a pocket rocket Podence is! A goal of the highest quality followed by a yellow card for trying to retrieve the ball from the illegal time wasting grasp of a Chelsea player. Podence was clearly fired up. His MOTM was deserved until Neto’s late great cameo goal, and almost a cracker of a third in the dying seconds. We may have lost Jota against the will of the fans but Podence and Neto are clearly fast developing into his equal at the very least. I thought Silva had an excellent match and he took his offside goal chance well. It’s just a matter of time before he breaks the ice. And full credit to young Otasowie for a debut so impressively mature that it was to the manor born.
The ongoing reservations about Semedo are in my opinion diminishing. The poor sod probably never had to defend properly at Barcelona, and now finds himself physically targeted as the weakest link in this Wolves side. It’s enough to unnerve the best of players. He’s coping well now and could develop into a classy and top rated RWB.
On another night not so long ago, the soft goal, the injuries to Boly and Donck, and the scare with Traore might have finished us off. That was then and this is now. A magnificent fightback and result.
Took time out to watch the game today without nerves being in control. So to me it was clear both Danny and Pedro, especially Danny, are already better than Diogo ( no disrespect, I loved him) was in his last season at the Mol.
I watched it live but I had a feeling when I placed the bet that it was to be our night, so I wasn’t my usual bag of nerves!
Podence and Neto are shit hot, no doubt about it. I’m over Jota now. Next I want Semedo to get me over Doc. Then I want Silva to get me over the temporary loss of Jimenez. Could be a great New Year!
Happy wandering.
I really enjoyed the last fifteen minutes after being on tenterhooks for most of the game. For all their ownership of the ball in the first half Chelski did not have a shot on target, but I was always expecting a goal from them which duly arrived after half time. They have some great players and Semedo was targeted, understandably, but did okay first half and much better second half where he seemed to blend with Otasowie much more effectively. I’m not giving up on the guy yet, as the Nuno effect will take him to better defensive stature, I hope. Fabio has much growing to do but has delightful touches, and with more luck, could have had a goal in each of the last two games, so he’s one we need to be patient with in my view. A couple of fully formed strikers are needed in January though. Otasowie had a good game and having watched the under 23s, I know there are a couple of decent youngsters of that calibre at hand. It was his first real game and he, like many younger players need to be fed in carefully at this stage; we’ve all seen `wonderkids` who go off the boil after half a dozen games to be not heard of again at the top level; but, he does look good to me.
It was great to see the old Neves back to near his best and Marcal continues to look quality. Traore is back to being his old enigmatic self; great one minute, totally frustrating the next. Being marked by two or three every time you receive the ball must be frustrating and he looks somewhat down at times. His body language seems very clear.
I’m surprised Taylor Perry has not had a look in as he looks very good in the games for the U23s I have seen and has the gift of seeming to have more time on the ball, creates chances and takes them himself. Maybe we will see him in cup matches.
Vitinha is another that may get more game time later in the season and seems to know what is expected; what a lovely weighted bal through to Pedro for the goal.
We seem to have a lot of youngsters who have promise but may not be quite there yet. Fans don’t usually have much patience, especially and somewhat understandably, with Semedo, which is counter productive to a player’s most fundamental need; confidence. In a way, it’s a good job fans are absent from games as he would be getting a lot of flack from many fans which can only knock his ego; he has time to repair the apparent damage. I hope he can and is able to prove himself, but who knows? Plenty, I suspect.
I can’t wait for the Burnley game and have little idea as to how we shall fare despite others’ confidence. We are so up and down in this transition period anything is possible, but I do look forward to seeing the development of our youngsters; how old is Neves, now? Only twenty-three!
Meritan Shabani oozed quality in the u23 game vs wba on Monday and Corbeanu is another to look out for- he has a hunger for goals true of all proper strikers and Christian marques is quality.
And all very young, even in that league.
I’m still climbing down from the ceiling after that finish.
– Podence was the best player on the pitch for the second game running. A sublime finish to get us back into a game I thought was already lost. It’s not just his ability, it’s the intensity he demands from his own performance and those around him.
– I’m tired just watching Neto and whether or not he was touched for the penalty (I don’t think he was) once he gets into that channel, he’s giving top quality defenders serious problems.
– Otasowie looks like he can step right in and be a first-team player (which is just as well if Boly and Donk are crocked). OK, it was 45 minutes and there were a few moments positionally where I thought he could maybe do better but all things considered, he was outstanding. There’s no hiding in midfield and he showed zero hesitation, winning an important header for Podence’s goal. He can potentially give us that combination of pace/power in central areas that our other midfielders don’t possess. I look forward to seeing more of him.
– Fabio did one or two nice things, but his lack of strength made it an uphill battle against two beasts in Silva and Zouma. That said, Traore didn’t do much better when he came on and someone has to play there, so it will be interesting to see what Nuno does at Burnley and the remaining fixtures in December. The Neto/Podence axis will always give us hope, but if we could get someone else up there contributing until Raul returns it would be handy. I see every minute Fabio gets as an investment. He won’t be a weed forever and I think there’s an inventiveness to his play that suggests he’ll eventually come good. He’s a year and a half younger than Otasowie, so his potential for physical development is still considerable.
– As others have said, Semedo was targeted. And there were some pretty bad defensive moments e.g. jumping under the ball for a straightforward back-post cross. But they constantly had three versus two situations down his side, so I had some sympathy for him in that respect. Others have to get around him more and help out. He should have put his foot through the ball when he got free in the box second half.
– Neves was brilliant.
– 3 at the back improved us.
– We look like a team who will never score from a corner which is disappointing. With Saiss back in the side last night alongside Donk and Boly, I was annoyed we pissed around with the ball so much rather than swinging it in. If you look at our last four goals (2 last night and 2 against Arsenal) they were manufactured by good passages of play, but as I keep saying, what we’re really missing are those bonus goals from set plays. That probably won’t change at Burnley.
– 20 points from 13 matches is our best start to a PL season.
I like that we are getting used to new systems, all the top teams are capable of switching systems to suit games and also during games.
We can carry on with three at the back to a reasonable amount of success but you can’t keep doing it season after season IMO if we want to compete at the very top .
The fact that we are experimenting as such well into the season and averaging around 1.5 points per game is remarkable.
The prince is slowly adapting and showing some great composure and nice touches, he isn’t far away from his first premier goal
Neto and podence have got the premier league by the scruff of the neck .
Ait nurie , vithina and ottosawi ( spellings??) kilman
Ones for the future?
Nah , ones for the here and now I think.
Come on you wolves
I see Sandwell have sacked Slavan Bilic who was probably their only chance of staying up. Get promotion, don’t supply any funds for team building and then blame the manager when it fails. Thankfully we don’t have such shite owners.
Obviously a draw at the Etihad wasn’t up to expectations.
But we’ve been there.
If you’ve ever wondered how and why greasy keeps running into defenders legs just watch the recently released police video of him in his Range Rover. He just can’t help crashing into things!
Made my millennium SP, really funny.
Loved his video, what a plank.
Don’t insult planks.
Hi just joined the blog last night would like to make some friends on here great bunch off people on here god bless u all
Hi Binda spain. Are you in Spain, or is it a misnomer?
It would appear that Binda is from sandwell, has seen the light, hence his/her blog name of Binda’s Pain!
If I am wrong, as per usual, I apologise profusely, and welcome to our wonderful blog!
Welcome or should I say Bienvenidos? Firstly congratulations on making such a good choice by joining this Blog. You will make friends and acquaintances for life. Secondly congratulations on supporting the mighty Wolves.
Binda,
Welcome on board, we are a great bunch in the main, some colourful some staid but all passionate Wolves fans.
Welcome to the blog, we’re all mad but harmless, plus all 100% old gold & black.
Ok I am here holding both my hands up. This after eating several dollops of humble pie. I really didn’t see that coming and was convinced we would lose last night.
In fact when I say I didn’t see that coming I literally didn’t see it as after watching the first half of the game I was then involved, along with around 150 others around the world, in a memorable two hour long Zoom call or ‘Fan-chat’ with my musical hero Steve Harley (he of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel fame – you know, “Come Up And See Me, Make Me Smile…..”) so missed the incredible 2nd half.
Has restored a lot of my faith and although there were still a few concerns – namely Semedo, Dendoncker and Silva – there were enough bright spots – Coady, Boly, Saiss, Marcal, Neves, Podence, Neto and Otasowie – to more than compensate.
As has already been said it will be interesting to see if just like two years ago a 2-1 comeback home win over Chelsea proves to be the turning point in our season.
Chatting with Steve Harley and beating Chelski – it doesn’t get much better than that. Or does it?
OODCL
Anybody figure out who the guy Neto was hugging was? Just some groundskeeper or some injured player who happened to be strolling about?
Does that accreditation thing indicate anything we can go by?
Looks like a groundskeeper guy.
I reckon 30,000 of us would have joyfully swapped places with this ‘some Groundskeeper’ last night in hugging Pedro! All members of the pack deserve respect young Timothy.
How was what I said disrespectful? I didn’t even say “some groundskeeper” I said “a groundskeeper”.
Some of you just look for reasons to cr@p on me.
OK, I see. How is “some groundskeeper” less respectful than “some injured player”?
No offence Tim but when you say ‘just some groundskeeper’ this comes over as disrespectful? Perhaps you didn’t mean it to be.
I seen a video last night and they stated it was Raul.
Thank u for the warm welcome supported wolves since 1974 it’s in my DNA
BREAKING NEWS!
Apparently Twitter is urging Liverpool to sign Podence.
I wonder which Twitter is that?
Or which TWATter, should I say.
Over the last 12 months Liverpool have been going to sign Traore, Jiminez, Coady and now Podence. The only one never mentioned was Jota.
I believe if they were properly investigated both Liverpool and Manchester United would be found to be regularly in breach of the rules.- Traore is classic. Watch the footage after the game at the end of last year with Klopp on the touchline if you can find it.
First of all, The guy pedro was hugging,was no other than Ronaldo coming to check out the place before he signs for us in January…
On the Game.we fully deserved the win 100% those chelsky prima-donnas thought they could just turn up and roll us over without breaking sweat..chelsky had a lot of the ball in the first half but rarely bothered our keeper.
Neto and Podence for me both deserve motm,but it was a team performance that really won us the game.
Before the game I was hoping we wouldn’t get beat that’s why I went for the draw..Nuno must take some of the plaudits also for his team selection and tactics in this game especially after a second defeat in a row all be it undeserved against the Vile.,On Neto’s penalty shout why would he go down when in a good position to have a crack at goal soft or not I think it was a peno.
Burnley game up next still a tough place to go for any team, but if we can show the same determination there’s no reason we can’t come away with all three points…
UTWFOTVILE.
actually it was boris johnson !
Smug look for getting my prediction right for a change !!
When you get the chance fellow bloggers go take a look at the latest Wolves tik tok featuring our Danny boy…..pure class
Excellent result which reflected the true Wolves brand. I hope (but doubt) that the achievement concludes criticism of three at the back, the deep counter-attacking approach and the patience to wait until the final third of the game to finish teams off. Superior fitness is a major weapon in our armoury.
Couple of shout outs, not picked up significantly from other comments: Otasowie for his covering of a struggling Semedo. Saiss for all-round performance, but particularly the cool nature of his clearance to Vintinhia as part of the goal build up.
Vintinhia for picking up the pace so quickly after coming on and laying a perfect ball on to Neto.
Just don’t tell me all our money has been wasted on potential, worth assessing the average age of last night’s players outside the back five and goalkeeper.
Last night a couple of old gits were watching the match on Amazon, at 93 minutes they were screaming at the ref to blow for time as Chelsea penned us in and mounted another attack. The teenager in the corner with his smartalec phone leaps up and shouts ” Goal! Neto you beauty!.” Don’t be soft” say the gits,” we ‘aven’t got the ball……oh hang on…… Neto’s in here,, YESSS”
Yes Amazon is a minute behind but what a magic moment.
Nuno’s faith in youth and the potential to improve is often questioned but when Otasawie can come from nowhere and play like that on his debut you have to admit he gets it right more often than not. I still think we need to borrow a centre forward and not put Silva in Raul’s boots, he’s not ready for them yet.
Semedo was targeted because he gets forward more than Marcal
Meanwhile we are sending Agent Allardyce to finish the job at The Poorthorns…….
Oh dear. It’s obviously not filtered through to Guangdong that Big Sam is a wolf through and through. All those years as a sleeping agent have at last come to fruition.
A great result. Nothing else I can add, which has not already been said by all on here. Loved Neto’s war cry at the end.
On a continued bias front, I have a nagging thought I need to air. When Neto won the penalty, it looked an easy decision in real time. Upon review it would have to have been the slightest of touches to take him down, and at the other end of the pitch, we would have been calling for that to be overturned. No qualms there for me. My problem is the continued efforts by pundits, commentators etc, to make an example of wolves in these situations. Changing facts to suit the moment. In the Neto case it was that there was not any contact and they highlighted that the only other player to be booked for simulation was a wolves player (Traore). They let that linger, instead of adding the fact that he didn’t actually dive at all, and the only reason it wasn’t overturned was because the ref had already decided to book him.
It was the same for the Coady penalty at Liverpool. Constantly showing images of laughing Liverpool players, all the while referring to how VAR got it spot on when compared with the decisions earlier on in the weekend. Again they chose to label wolves as cheaters, rather than suggest that Sterling wrongly gained a penalty with clever simulation. Funnily enough the Traore incident, again, didn’t fit a situation where an example was to be made of us. In a rational analysis they could quite easily have slotted in that Sterling also made the most of it, even though it was given, and that Traore didn’t dive.
In a world of equality maybe they would. Wishful thinking I suppose.
Onwards to Burnley, and another performance like that will hopefully get us the points! UTW
You are correct! But we are strong! They can say what they want, we are strong! Their biased opinions against us, we are strong! All pundits can be against us, we are strong! Us fans, the player, the Management, we are strong. We will prevail! They fear is because we are strong!
I rest my case!!!
That’s exactly how I’d like have responded to my own post. Top draw St.Kitts!!
to have*
And “drawer”.
Ah yes, was never going to get away with that!
Under 23’s blog training for me next week.
Great Blog!
Not too long ago the team oozed quality with Doc and Jonny as WBs and Jota and Jimenez up front
Two of these greats will hopefully be back before end of season ( although Raul must take as much time as needed) then we are going to have a fascinating variety of options and other teams simply won’t know how to prepare Now that’s a fun filled future for Wolves fans
Meantime my prediction of a 2-0 defeat was total bollocks
I watched the game here at 5pm but after a careful media blackout the recording was essentially ‘live ‘
Around 7pm my neighborhood assumed I was being murdered as the screams that greeted Neto’s sublime winner rattled the windows
Christmas came early
I get all of the worries about Semedo, Traore and the Young Prince but our job as bloggers is to be proved wrong
Even when we are up in top 4 we will continue to worry needlessly … that’s what we do… but we are in good hands
( unlike folk at the Crem..)
OODCL
Brilliant result and totally unexpected. 3 at the back we look more comfortable against skillfull teams. Would not be surprised to see Nuno go 4 at the back against Burnley .
Neto Podence.on fire and Neves was more like his old self. Let’s hope this is the start of a winning run.